These examples of recent scams may help you learn what an Inland Revenue scam looks like.
Email scams
Scam emails often include these kinds of details.
- They are not from one of our email addresses.
- They do not include your name – instead, they might say ‘kia ora’ or ‘dear citizen’.
- They include links, which do not go to our website or myIR. We do not include links in our emails.
- The language, logo or colours may be wrong.
You can tell this email is a scam because:
- this is not our address (1)
- the colours and language are wrong (2)
- we include your name (3)
- we do not include links in emails (4)
- we do not sign our letters with 'New Zealand' (5).
You can tell this email is a scam because:
- this is not our address (1)
- we include your name (2)
- we do not include refund amounts or links in emails (3, 4)
- we do not sign our letters with 'New Zealand' (5).
You can tell this email is a scam because:
- this is not our address (1)
- we include your name (2)
- we do not include links in our emails, and we only ask you to log into myIR from our website (3)
- we give due dates, not time frames (4).
Text (SMS) scams
We will not send you:
- a message from any number except 5678 or 4478 (in New Zealand)
- links in text messages.
You can tell this text message is a scam because:
- this is not our number (1)
- we do not include links in our text messages (2)
- we do not send messages from a 'MyIR Team' (3).
Other scams
Scammers may also use fake:
- IRD number application websites – we do not make you pay for an IRD number
- social media accounts, where they pretend to work for us.
You may also be contacted by phone.
Read more about these types of scams.
Some scam websites offer to help you get a IRD number for money, but instead they steal your payment and your personal information.
These scams often advertise on Google and social media platforms like X (Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.
We will never make you pay to apply for an IRD number. You can find out how to apply on our website.
Remember to never give out your personal information unless you're sure of who you're dealing with. Run it past someone you trust to help you check, or if you are still unsure, please contact us.